Normandy Street
by MrMobil
Summary: Liara Tsoni and her mother have just moved to a new neighborhood. The first week there, Liara and her mother are invited to a party thrown by their across the street neighbors, the Shepards. There, Liara meets Jane, and begins to come out of her shell as she makes new friends and begins to grow up. Rated T, for more adult themes, such as minor drug use and shenanigans. Ch.2/?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! So, this is my first fanfiction, I hope everyone likes it. This is an AU. The best classification I can give it is a Highschool AU, but that's not really what it is as the story doesn't actually take place in highschool. The characters are highschool aged though, so thats that best way that I can describe it. I hope that everyone likes it. Feel free to give me criticism, Im always trying to improve my writing. All characters belong to Bioware.**

Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them - a mother's approval, a father's nod - are covered by moments of their own accomplishments

Liara looked around at the varying people who were at the barbecue that the neighbors were throwing. She could remember their family name was Shepherd. She and her family had only just moved to the neighborhood, and the neighbors had insisted on having a welcome to the neighborhood party for them. Liara hadn't wanted to go. people were always a trial for her, she just wanted to stay home and read her books. but, alas her mother had pulled the "You can't stay by yourself all summer" card and so here she was, sitting on an unknown person's couch watching people walk to and from the snack table. Most people were holding a human beer with writing on it that was in a language that she didn't understand. The people drank it willingly, and she wondered absentmindedly what the writing actually said.

A quarian family arrived, and greeted the hostess with hugs and good days and how was your weekends. they were introduced to her mother, who had been chatting with Ms Shepard. Liara's attention shifted to the two krogan boys in the yard, who were arguing loudly and pushing each other around. She looked down at her hands, thinking about how much she wanted to go home.

"Liara," liara looked up at her mother, who was waving her hand at her "come here and say hello, you've been sitting on that couch since we got here." Feeling it was better to just do as she was told than to try and argue and therefore make a scene, she stood and went to introduce herself to the new arrivals.

Liara said a timid "Hello," and shifted her weight between her two feet, never looking up.

"Liara, these are the Zorah's, and their daughter Tali."

"It's good to meet you," Said Mr Zorah, and after a little pause, nudged his daughter with his elbow.

"Oh, right, hi," She said, "It's good to meet you." Liara couldn't see Tali's face under her mask, but her eyes were shifting around as if she was trying t find a way to slip out of the conversation at hand.

"Janes upstairs Tali, if you want to say hi to her. You can go up to liara, my daughters always happy to meet new people."

Liara tried to think of a good excuse not to, but her mother gave her a pointed look, and she found herself agreeing, "Umm, ok sure" she said, and wished she hadn't.

"Ok, well, Im going to head up," said Tali, as she turned to walk up the stairs. "Are You coming Liara?"

Liara followed Tali up the stairs and down a hallway through a black wood door. In the room was a human girl with bright red hair, who Liara could only guess was Jane, and a tall, lanky turian boy with a large splotchy scar across the right side of his face. They were puffing on a rolled up little paper that was producing a strong smell of skunk, with a slight hint of mint.

"Tali!" Yelled Jane as the two of them walked in the room, throwing her hands into the air and knocking over a cup that was resting on the top of her desk.

"Oh Keela Jane, are you stoned already?"

"I sure am, and it's making me feel giddy. Who are you?" Jane's attention shifted to Liara, and she gave her a look of dazed curiosity.

"Oh, umm, I'm Liara. I Just moved in across the street."

"Oh, you're the new neighbor. Cool, good to meet you. Well, pop a squat, make yourself at home."

Liara looked around for a seat, and found none, so she sat on the floor with her back against a bedpost. "I'm Garrus, by the way." Said the turian.

"Oh, uh, hi." Said Liara.

The focus in the room quickly shifted to Jane, who was telling a story of visiting her family on Earth, and the escapades that her and her cousin john would get into. Liara sensed that Jane was the sort of person who could make a friend anywhere, no matter the circumstances. As she listened to jane's stories and anecdotes, she found herself becoming envious of Jane, wishing that she had the confidence and grace of her new neighbor. Whenever Liara was presented with a group of people, her instinct was generally to try and distance herself from them. I They actually started a conversation with her, It would always leave her flustered, stuttering and frequently putting her own foot in her mouth. But this girl Jane seemed so comfortable in a room full of people. She was clearly the center of attention, and was holding her audience in such a way that it left Liara utterly baffled.

As the night wore on, others came and went from Jane's room, including the Krogans who were wrestling in the backyard, a girl named ashley, who gave Liara a noticeable look of derision, and another girl who seemed far too perfect to be natural.

Eventually the party started to fizzle out, and people began to head home. Around 12:30 Liara's mother called up the stairs for her. She stood, and said an awkward goodbye to Jane and Garrus, before heading downstairs to where her mother was saying goodbye to Ms Shepard, who had insisted that they call her Hannah.

"Thank you so much for having us" she was saying, "We of course just moved to the neighborhood, and it was so kind of you to invite us over."

"It was really nothing," Said Hannah "You were new, and me and Jane thought that it would nly be the neighborly thing to do. After all, its good to have friends."

The two older women dispensed some more small talk, before they said their final goodbyes, and Liara and her mother made their way back across the street. "Did you have a good time?" Asked Liaras mother as they walked, both carrying separate trays of Armali and Serice food that they had brought to the party.

"I dont know, I guess," Said Liara. She had definitely found the experience interesting, but she wasn't sure if she would have classified it as a good time. "Did you?"

"I did," said her Benezia simply. The two continued on to their house, making their way inside to put down their trays of food and get ready to go to bed. They didnt say that much else that evening, but when Liara was sitting in bed reading a book before she went to bed, Benezia passed by her door as she made her way to her own room. She stopped briefly, and poked her head into Liara's room and said "Hey honey?"

Liara looked up from her book to look at her mother "Yeah," She said.

There was a brief pause, before Benezia said "Thanks for coming with me tonight."

Liara thought a moment, feeling as if this wasnt the real reason that her mother had stopped. "Your welcome," she said.

"I know that you have trouble with people," Benezia continued, "So I just wanted to tell you that Im vary proud of you for coming with me tonight."

Liara was rather taken aback. She knew her mother loved her, but she was not very used to hearing her mother be so forward with praise. It was a rare occasion in which that happened. She paused a bit, before replying with a simple "Thanks."

"Good night Little Wing. I love you."

"I love you to mom."

And with that, Benezia left Liaras room and went to sleep in her own. Liara continued to read her book for a while longer, before turning off her light and rolling over to go to sleep. She mulled over her mothers sudden praise in her head, as well as her new neighbor hood. It seemed like a nice place to her, she hadnt really ever made many friends at her old house. She thought about all of this as she drifted off, but she found that her mind kept coming back to the girl Jane, with her bright red hair and green eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, chapter two is up. I meant to get this finished last week, but life got in the way. Ill survive though. Anyways, I hope everyone likes this. Feel free to comment, and criticism is always welcome. Im always trying to get better at writing.**

Aaah, summer - that long anticipated stretch of lazy, lingering days, free of responsibility and rife with possibility. It's a time to hunt for insects, master handstands, practice swimming strokes, conquer trees, explore nooks and crannies, and make new friends.

Darrell Hammond

The day after the barbecue at the Shepherd's house Jane woke around 10:00 am, and, trying to decide what she wanted to do with her day began to search through her closet, then under her bed, and eventually began to dig through her clothes drawers. She pulled out her bathing suite, and decided that it was summer vacation, and that all she wanted to do that day was to go swimming. Jane opened her door and yelled down the stairs to her mother, saying "Hey mom?"

"Yes honey?" her mother replied, poking her head around the corner of the staircase from the kitchen.

"Do we have anything going on today? I was hoping to go swimming." Jane crossed her fingers, scrunching up her face hoping that there was no pressing plan that day which her mother had made on some earlier date.

"No, nothing's happening today, you can go swimming if you want."

Jane did a quiet fist pump to herself at the top of the stairs, before saying "Ok, thanks mom." Jane then threw her bathing suite onto her bed and went back to her closet to find a bag and some towels. She threw them on the bed, and then went into the bathroom where the lotion and sunscreen was kept. She took a bottle of sunscreen took it into her room, placing it in her bag before putting in her towels as well. Jane took off the clothes she had slept in and put on her swimsuite, before putting on new clothes for the day.

Jane made her way into the kitchen and dug around in the cabinets or some food she could take with her for a lunch, eventually procuring a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly and some bread. After placing all of this in her bag, she sat down at the kitchen table with a phone, and began to call her friends, seeing if any of them wanted to go swimming.

There was a knock on Liara's door. liara kept still, and hoped that the knocking would not continue. After a few seconds, the knock came again. Liara rolled onto her back and acknowledged the knock with a sort of "Mmnf" noise.

"Liara," Benezia said from behind the door, "That girl Jane you met last night is here. She was wondering if you wanted to go swimming with her and some of her friends."

Liara sat up in her bed. She didn't actually want to go, considering how considerably shy she was. But at the same time, there was something about Jane that Liara found incredibly intriguing. She, although she didn't want to go, did find that at the same time she really did want to go. She found the dilemma in her head to be incredibly confusing, especially as she had just woken up.

Liara had been quiet for a few seconds, and Benezia prodded with a simple "Liara, are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here." Liara looked over at her door, listening in to hear her mother's response.

"Well, would you like to go or not?"

"Sure." She said.

Liara took a moment to realise what she had said, her mind still groggy from sleep, but before she could say anything to her mother to try and not go, she heard her mother calling down the stairs to, presumably Jane, "Liara says she would like to go. She should be down in a minute or two."

Liara felt her heart skip a beat. Now there was no going back. So, liara, feeling nervous and embarrassed, began to get to and look for something to wear swimming. She could feel her face getting hot. Liara really wished she had said something about wanting to sleep in. Jane seemed to be the kind of person who would forgive you for being tired. But Liara found the idea of going and saying that she would actually not like to go after saying that she would seemed very rude and inconsiderate.

Liara opened her door and stepped out into the hallway. She looked over the railing of the stairs, and saw no one there, but she could hear her mother and Jane chatting in the breakfast room. Liara walked down the hall to the bathroom, and found a towell. When she left the bathroom, and went to the hallway closet to look for a bathing suite, jane was looking at a picture on the wall downstairs.

"Hey Liara," she said, oblivious to Liara's awkwardness in social situations. Liara couldn't decide if that was a blessing or a curse, but she felt like it was probably both.

"Hey," She responded, and then started to walk quicker to the closet.

Liara and Jane walked towards the sign at the end of their street, where they were planning to meet Jane's friends. They didn't make much small talk, which Liara was very relieved about. Liara still couldn't help but shrink into herself some, but Jane didn't seem to notice, or at least she pretended not to. Liara looked over at Jane at one point, and saw that she was smiling slightly to herself, seemingly just happy to be doing her own thing. Liara looked a bit too long, and Jane looked over at her, as Liara snapped her eyes back to her feet as the two of them walked, trying to seem as if she hadn't been staring.

"So, where did you and your mother move from?" Asked Jane. "I didn't really get much of a chance to talk to you last night. I was a bit high. You know."

"We used to live on Thessia," Said Liara.

"Cool," Said Jane. "I hear its supposed to be really pretty around Armali, especially when its beach season."

"Yeah," said Liara. Jane didn't ask many more questions after that, and the two of them walked onwards towards the end of the street. As they got closed, Liara saw 3 people waiting for them. There was the girl who didn't seem too much like Liara, for what reason she couldn't quite tell, and the strangely perfect girl, as well as the turian with the scar on his face, who was wearing a pair of floaties on his arms.

As Liara and Jane approached, the turian boy said "I can't believe I let you talk me into this Jane."

"Come on Garrus, It'll be fun. Everyone likes swimming." Said Jane, smiling a big goofy smile.

Garrus rolled his eyes at her, before saying "I don't think you have ever seen a turian swim."

"It can't be that bad," Said Jane.

"Oh it is." Continued Garrus, "It involves a lot of thrashing and flailing about, with the occasional bout of drowning."

"Garrus," Replied Jane,"Are you really all that worried about drowning? After all, you got those floaties on."

"Don't patronize me Jane."

Jane giggled some, and Liara was once again mesmerized by how effortless it seemed to be for her to talk to people.

"You guys done?" Asked the girl who didn't like Liara, in a haughty tone of voice.

"Ashley, calm down" Said Garrus, in a tone that suggested that telling her to calm down was a common activity for the group.

There was a bit more back and forth between the 4, which Liara watched and listened to, awkwardly shifting her weight from time to time, before they began to walk to the swimming hole that they were going to.

Liara didn't quite know what she had expected, but it certainly wasn't what she got. Sid swimming hole was behind an old building, which Jane explained was supposed to be a grocery store before the company building it ran out of money. There were a few old beach chairs, all surrounding a fire pit, which was really nothing more than a hole in the ground, and two old picnic tables, that were covered in random graffiti and detritus. There was very little beach, although what beach there was was not covered with very good sand. The rest of the area was very shady, with lots of trees, and hardly any sun.

As far as Liara was concerned, it was to most pitiful, half assed swimming hole she had ever seen. And yet, there was still an undeniable charm about it, despite the fact that she suspected all the chairs were salvaged from the very river they were about to swim in. So, her along with the rest of the group pulled off their clothes, all wearing swimming suits underneath. (Except for Garrus, who was just wearing a pair of swimming trunks as if they were shorts,) and jumped in the water.

Liara was the last one in, following just behind Garrus, who was visibly uncomfortable with his having agreed to swimming, despite the fact that he was decked out in floaties. She waded in, and then lay on her back in the water, allowing the current to move her around. Everyone swam, and Jane and Garrus splashed around for a few minutes, a spectacle which Liara couldn't help but smile at. Everything was nice, the water was a perfect temperature, the day was hot, although in a very relaxing way, and Liara was pleased in having been invited to take part in this.

After a while, they all got out of the water and sat in the beach chairs to have lunch. Liara had not thought about lunch when she was getting ready to leave, but Jane and Miranda both gave her some of their food, which Liara thanked them profusely for. The 5 of them sat quietly eating their lunches, when a terrific shouting was heard from the top of the small cliff that was on the other side of the swimming hole.

Everyone looked in the direction of the noise to see what the commotion was, and saw a young man come running out of the bushes, waving a his shirt above his head as he leapt from the top of the cliff while yelling "CAAANNOOONNBBBAAAAALLLL!" before splashing in to the water, sending a wave of water onto Ashley, who was closest to the water. Before anyone had time to react to the sudden appearance of this newcomer, a second person came running from the bushes, simply saying "AAAUUUGHAUAUHFUA!" before jumping from the cliff and into the water, splashing Ashley a second time.

The two jumpers came up from under the water laughing as if the was the greatest thing they had ever done. Ashley was fuming, and stood to yell at the tw of them.

"Oh my god! What the fuck you guys!? Why the hell did you do that!?"

"Because it wa funny, why the hell else?" Replied the first, coming out of the water and shaking his head to get the water out of his hair.

"That was not funny, Vega, that fucking sucked." Said Ashley. She waited till the boy Vega got close before punching him in the arm. "Asshole."

Vega just ignored her, and laughed as he gave the second guy a high five, before the two of them sat down in the sand. "Anyways, how are you guys doing? Anything exciting happen since last summer and now?"

"Not much," said Jane. "Just more of the normal stuff. Going to school, ridiculous teen drama bullshit. You know, the usual. And you guys, anything exciting?"

"Well, Cortez here got himself a boyfriend."

The group erupted with cheers, and everyone everyone started leaning forward to give Cortez high fives and fist bumps.

"Give us the dirty details, we wanna know?!" Said Miranda, leaning back in her chair and smiling excitedly at Cortez.

"Alright, alright, if you insist."

The group started cheering again, although they settled down quicker.

"He's this guy named Billy," said Cortez.

"Hick name, go on." Said Ashley.

"Uuuh, yeah." Said Cortez. "Anywho, he's 18, going off to college next year, and we met at a shoe store of all places."

"Yeah," Said Jane. "College boy. Get 'im Cortez."

Liara didn't speak much, although she did make a couple of comments here and there throughout the conversation. She liked this Vega boy. He was funny, and she thought it was sorta cute the way him and Jane always teased each other back and forth. Eventually, after some rambling conversations about Cortez's boyfriend, among some other random tidbits, Vega decided that it was high time everyone jumped off the cliff.

They all stood up, and the group waded into the water and swam across the river to where there was a steep path that led up to the top of the cliff. Everyone grabbed onto the roots and stones that protruded out of the ground and hoisted themselves up. When they were all at the top Jane and Liara took a glance over the edge down at Garrus, who was lounging in a chair looking up at them. He couldn't jump with them, as he couldn't swim.

"Having a good time down there, Garrus?" Asked Jane.

"Oh you know it," said Garrus.

Miranda sprinted past the two of them and took a huge leap into the water, angling herself just right to splash Garrus, who didn't say anything, but just stood and moved all the way back to the wall of the half finished grocery store. Ashley was next, then James and Cortez, who jumped together. Jane was next. Before she jumped though, she looked over at Liara and flashed her a big goofy smile that almost seemed to say, 'Come on,' before turning and jumping into the water with a lot of awkwardly flailing limbs. But, after that smile, Liara didn't really notice the goofiness of Jane's jump. She was just to distracted by how pretty Jane had looked.

She must have waited a bit too long, and she heard from below her Miranda shout, "Hey, you gonna jump or not?"

"Yeah," said Liara, "Im gonna jump." She then ran and leapt off the cliff.

They stayed out swimming until around 5:00, only returning to their homes out of hunger rather than desire. Cortez and Vega climbed back up the cliff, shouting their goodbyes from the top before setting off through the bushes back to where they lived. The others gathered up their stuff and set off back towards the road sign where they had first met, and then split again. Garrus Miranda and Ashley went one way, while Jane and Liara went the other.

They didn't talk on the way back to their houses, just like when they were going the other direction to the swimming hole. But unlike the first walk, the lack of conversation didn't feel awkward so much as just comfortable. Liara found it very relaxing. They reached their houses, and said goodbye before heading inside. Liara said hello to her mother, who was in the kitchen writing something on her computer. Benezia responded with a hello, although it seemed to also say 'My, haven't you been out for a while.'

"You want some dinner?" Said Benezia.

"Yes please," said Liara. She was famished. She stepped into the kitchen to sit down, but her mother stped her.

"Don't you think you wanna change out of those wet clothes you're wearing?" It wasn't so much of a suggestion as an order.

"Oh, yeah, sorry mom."

"Its okay, I just don't want you getting these new chairs all water damaged."

Liara made her way up to her room, where she deposited her bag onto her bed before taking off her clothes and bathing suite. She dug around in her drawers, and produced a dry pair of underwear and some sweatpants, as well as a t-shirt. Liara went back downstairs into the kitchen, and sitting next to her mother, who had made up a bowl of leftovers while Liara had been up in her room. They didn't talk much, Benezia was rather engrossed in what she was writing. Liara thought back on her day, and felt very warm and happy about it. She had had a great time, and it was a new experience for her to be a part of something that she really liked along with other people.

At 7:50, there was a knock at the door. Liara was in the living room, which was close to the front door, so she stood to go see who it was. It was Jane.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," replied Liara.

"You wanna come over and watch a movie? My mothers at a friends house right now, so the house is kinda empty. I was hoping you would like to hang out."

"Uh, sure." Said Liara, feeling much more confident about it than she had that morning.

"Ok, cool!" Said Jane."

"Let me just tell my mother where Im going," She said.

"Ok," Said Jane.

Liara quickly went upstairs, where her mother was and said, "Hey mom?"

"Yeah hon?"

"Im gonna go over to Jane's house. She was wanting to watch a movie."

"Ok, that sounds fine to me." Said Benezia.

Liara went back downstairs, where Jane was standing in the entryway.

"Alright, I can go." Said Liara. The two went out and walked over to the Shepard Household. They went inside, into the TV room. Jane turned on the TV, and switched it over to the movie playing feature, and they both looked through the options they had. They eventually settled on a film called Collard Greens, which was about a family of humans living in the southeastern US during the 21st century. They didn't get very far though before Jane said, "Oh shit! We forgot to get snacks!"

She hopped up off the couch, and went off towards the kitchen. Liara stayed on the couch, and looked down at her knees, waiting for Jane to come back. Jane poked her head back around the doorway into the TV room after a few seconds, and said, "Aren't you coming?"

"Oh, I mean, I was but.." Liara trailed off, but Jane just laughed. Not a mean laugh, but an understanding one.

She came back into the living room and took Liara's hand, and said "Come on."

The two of them went into the kitchen, and Jane pointed out the snack cabinet while she started to make popcorn. Liara rummaged a bit, and pulled out some chips and the like, and as she did so she had the distinctive feeling that she had made a friend.


	3. Chapter 3

**Everyone who has been following this story, sorry Ive taken so long to upload this chapter. Just a combination of work, school, and getting very wrapped up in some drama with a friend, I haven't been able to do anything with this story. Anyways, Ive got a lot more time to kill now, and hopefully I should be able to start updating with more regularity.**

 **So, without further adieu, Chapter 3!**

Liara lay on the couch on her porch, reading a book. "The Protheans. Who Were They, Where Did They Go?" She was contemplating whether she wanted to keep reading it or not, it wasn't very well written. But, she had always found Protheans interesting, and there wasn't much else to do, so she read it. But, if any excuse to stop reading presented itself, she would gladly take it. Nothing happened though, and she eventually got tired of all the run on sentences and terrible wording in her book, and snapped it closed, before sitting up again and looking over her new street. It was late afternoon, and the low sun and humidity of summer gave the air a golden glow. She could hear birds chirping, and crickets were just starting to come out. She listened, and thought about nothing in particular, just spaced out.

Benezia opened the front door, and looked at Liara. "Could you please water the garden hun? Those poor plants look like they haven't had any water in their systems for days."

"Okay," said Liara. Benezia smiled, and went back into the house. Liara stood up, and opened the screen door separating the porch from the outside. She went around the house, to where her mother's garden was, and uncoiled the hose from the side of the house. She leaned down and turned the knob to turn on the water. The hose sputtered to life, and Liara aimed it at the plants, putting her thumb over the top to make the water spray out in a mist. She walked around the garden, trying to get an equal spread of water on each one.

When she was finished, she turned off the water, and coiled the hose up by the house again, before going back around to head back inside. Liara climbed up the stairs to the porch, and headed back to her room. She picked up another book, an old Asari short story collection that she had taken out of the library at her old home, but never returned. She read for a while, a story about two Asari in a pure blooded relationship, one about an ancient Justicar, a series of three about a family of colonists, and so on. After a while, she put her book down and went to open her window. She grabbed the little handle that was attached to the bottom, opened it, and looked out over the street again.

A car pulled around the corner. An old, beat up hoopty of a vehicle that looked like it would fall apart if you even looked at it the wrong way. It pulled up in front of Jane's house, and Liara watched James open the door and step out, before knocking on the door of Jane's house. Ms Shepard, who insisted she be called Hannah, opened the door, and smiled at James. Liara could hear them talking, though not exactly what was being said. They sounded pleasant, like summer. She let James into the house, and closed the door. Liara turned back around, and continued reading.

It was starting to get dark when Liara felt her Omnitool buzz. She looked at it, and saw that Jane had messaged her. "Do you want to come over? James is here, and we were thinking of calling up Garrus as well."

Liara read it over, before responding. "Sure. Are we doing anything in specific?"

"Not really," responded Jane. "We're just goofing around."

Liara smiled. She had in the last 2 weeks come to really enjoy Jane company. Not just because of her crush on the human girl, but also as a friend. Liara closed her book, and stood up. She opened her closet and put on her sweater, the Serrice University one, and went down stairs. Benezia was in the living room, reading her own book, and said when Liara passed by, "Where you goin hun?"

"Im just going over to Jane's house."

"Hmm," said Benezia. "You and Jane certainly have hit it off, haven't you?"

Liara stood in the living room doorframe, and shifted her weight from foot to foot. She had never really noticed it, but she found herself doing that alot. "Umm, I guess so." She said.

Benezia looked up, and said, "Well, don't let me keep you. I never said you couldn't go over."

Liara smiled, and turned around, opening the front door of their house. "Ill be back in a little while mom" she said.

"Okay," said Benezia, looking back down to her book. "Have fun."

"Ill try," she said, and closed the door. She walked across the porch and opened the screen door, and stepped down the porch steps. It was getting dark, the sun being just bairly visible over the horizon. The crickets had gone into full gear, chirping loudly, and filling the night air with white noise. Liara walked across the street, passed James's pitiful excuse for a car, and up the Shepherds porch steps. Their house didn't have a screen door, just a small porch on the front and a big wooden front door, painted red. She reached out and rang the doorbell, and waited for a minute.

The door opened, and Hannah Shepard stood in front of Liara. "Hey," she said, "Can I help you Liara?"

Liara looked down at her feet a second, but snapped her eyes back up to Hannah's quickly. Though she was becoming more comfortable with Jane and her friends, she still didnt know Hannah Shepard very well, and still felt shy and awkward around her. "Um, Jane, Uh, Jane invited me over," she said, and mentally slapped herself. She didn't like the way she stuttered around people she didn't know. Thankfully, Hannah seemed to be a very kind woman, who would look over it without a thought.

"Oh, alright then," Said Hannah, "Come on in then. Are you staying for dinner?"

Liara stood with Hannah, who walked back into the kitchen, where she was cooking. "Uhm, I mean, I wouldn't want to impose of anything, its no big deal."

"No," said Hannah, "don't worry about it." She looked back to Liara and continued, "why don't you stay over, you and Jane have been spending so much time together, it only feels right to me."

"Okay, I guess I can stay," said Liara.

"Great!" Said Hannah, turning around and stirring a big pot on the stove, "You ever had spaghetti before? Its a human food, so I would understand if you havent."

"No," siad Liara, "I don't think I have."

"Oh," said Hanna, "Well, I think you'll really like it. Almost everyone I have ever met enjoys it, except for the Vakarians of course, but their turian, so the whole Levo Dextro thing is a good excuse for them."

Liara stood there in the kitchen, and fidgeted with her fingers some. She felt a little roped into the conversation, and though she knew Hannah didn't mean any harm, she still wished she would stop talking. She was saved by the bell when Jane came down the stairs, and came into the kitchen from the living room. "Hey!" She said happily, "You made it," she walked over to her mother, and Liara watched. "How long till dinner's ready mom?" She said, looking down into the pot her mother was stirring.

"About a half an hour," said Hannah, "Ive only just started."

Liara watched Jane stare into the pot, before sticking her finger in and taking a bit of red sauce out and sticking it in her mouth. "Jane!" Said Hannah, reaching her hand out and flicking her daughters ear, "Don't do that, that's disgusting."

Jane just laughed, and ducked out of the way of her mother. James came around the corner into the kitchen as well, loping along with his happy go lucky swagger. "Hey Liara," he said, and gave her a light punch on the shoulder as he passed.

"Is dinner ready?" He said, looking at Jane.

Hannah responded, "No, Ive only just started it. You kids find something to do, or im going to hit you with this spoon."

"Oh No!" Said Jane, sarcastically, "What shall we ever do."

"As long as its not illegal, I don't care very much," said Hannah, "Just get out of my hair."

Jane smiled, and turned around to leave the kitchen. James followed, leaving Liara the last in the kitchen. "Thanks for having me for dinner," she said.

"Don't worry about it." Said Hannah.

Liara smiled to herself, and turned around, following Jane and James out of the room. The three of them passed through the living room, and opened a sliding door to Jane's backyard. There were a couple of old deck chairs sitting around an old glass table. On it was an empty bird feeder, and a half finished wooden birdhouse next to some nails and wood, as well as a BB Gun and some BBs. In the corner of the yard was an old gnarled tree, pressed up against a fence that ran around the Sheppards yard. In the tree was an old decrepit looking tree house, that looked like it hadn't been used in years.

Underneath the tree was a clothesline with several old tin cans lined up on top at one end.

Jane sat down in one of the deck chairs, and James and Liara followed suit. Jane picked up the BB gun, and aimed it at some cans that were lined up on top of the clothesline. She pulled the trigger, and the gun made a tight little snapping noise. One of the can fell off the clothesline, a little hole in the center of it.

They didn't say anything for a minute, just watched Jane plunk away at the cans. She eventually hit them all though, and stood to go and put them all back up. Liara watched her, maybe a little more closely than normal, and though Jane didn't notice, James certainly did. He looked over at her, and said, "So, Liara, you've taken an interest in Jane have you?" Liara looked back at James, a little surprised by his straightforwardness.

She could feel her cheeks flushing, and she said with as much conviction as she could muster, "What? No, I Just. . . I mean, she's very. . . Well, I don't know."

"Uh huh," said James, looking back at Jane briefly, who was trying to get one of the cans to balance, before looking back at Liara and saying, "so, did I hit a nerve there?"

"Why do you care?" Asked Liara, indignant and embarrassed.

"Im not actually to concerned," said James, "Im just teasing you a little." There was a pause, and the two sat in silence, before James piped up again, "You should ask her out," he said, looking back at Liara.

"I don't know," she said. "Ive never been very good with that kind of thing."

"Well, you won't get anywhere with Jane if you don't try." He said. "And lets be clear," he continued, "you live right across the street from her, so you've probably got the easiest chance of making any progress with her than any of us."

Liara looked at him funny. "What do you mean by that?" She said.

"Oh ho!" Said James, "are you trying to tell me you didn't notice the way Garrus acts around Jane? Jesus, he's even more obvious than you are. I feel kind of bad for him honestly, he's just dug himself deeper and deeper into the friendzone hole. I don't think he realises that Jane's not into dudes either." Liara looked at him, and thought about it. Garrus did always seem super polite and kind around Jane. She was surprised to hear that Jane was gay though. She had always seemed like a fairly typical human girl to her. Although, it didn't seem like humans put to much pressure on their children to like one gender over the other, so she wondered it this was truly an indicator of 'normal.'

"You guys making fun of me?" Said Jane, walking back to the table. She sat down in her chair, and looked over the table at the other two.

"Nothing awful," said James. "Just talking about your odd obsession with that hamster at the pet store. You've even named it and everything, even though you don't own it."

Jane looked back across the yard, and started ranting about said hamster. James looked back at Liara and winked before turning back to Jane and continuing the conversation that had been started. Apparently Jane had named the hamster Wilson, even though she didn't even know whether or not it was a boy or a girl. She talked awhile about Wilson, until James interrupted and said, "Have you ever had one of those dreams, where you're standing on top of a pyramid in sort of, sun god robes? And below you are thousands of screaming naked women throwing little tiny pickles at you?"

Jane and Liara stared at him, and he looked back, a spaced out look in his face. "No James," said Jane, "I cant say I ever had had that dream."

"Huh," said James, "why am I the only one who ever has that dream?"

"Probably because most people don't remember their dreams. Or, they don't have reoccurring dreams about pickles and naked women. . . Actually, that sounds like something that hints at some sort of sexual frustration. Is there something your not telling us James?"

James laughed, "Well, therapist Sheparard, I have an undying desire to have a three way with your mother and the hamster you're obsessed with. Is there any prescription to help with that?" They all three laughed, and James pointed to his forehead saying, "Ive also got this terrible growth, do you think you can fix that to?"

Liara leaned forward, and studied his forehead before saying, "I don't know James, I think thats just your face. I wish I could help with that, but it seems your going to be stuck with it forever."

"Wow T'soni," Laughed Jane, "aggressive today arent we?"

Liara smiled and laughed, looking down to her lap, proud of herself for pushing the envelope some. It was refreshing for her, letting go a little, instead of staying cooped up in her own head.

They all laughed a bit more, and teased each other, before Jane spoke up again.

"Oh, hey," she said, "this is related to nothing, but, my birthday is coming up next week, and I figured you guys would want to come over, eat some cake and whatnot. I don't have anything to special planned, so its not going to be some big exciting party like they have in movies, but it should be fun."

"Yeah, Ill come on over," said James, "Its not like there's anything else to do."

Liara was already working out all the details in her head to try and get that hamster which Jane was so enormous with. She wondered it James had known what he was doing when he told her about the hamster. Now that she thought a little about it, she felt like he was trying to lead her in the right direction. She would have to ask him about that. "I wouldn't mind coming over," said Liara.

"Great," said Jane, looking at Liara, "Im glad you can come." She smiled her big goofy smile at Liara, and she felt her heart skip a beat, and butterflies flap around in her stomach. She smiled back at Jane, before Hannah poked her head out the sliding door.

"Dinner's ready," she said.

Jane made a sarcastic sigh, and rolled her eyes dramatically, "You could have take longer mom," she said, all fake teen angst and pissyness.

"Yeah, whatever," said Hannah, "you can either eat it or not, you little brat." She smiled though, and Liara laughed at the back and forth between the two. James Jane and Liara stood, and went back through the living room and on to the kitchen.

They all sat down at the table, and passed their plates up to Hannah. She served up a pile of pasta onto each plate, before scooping out a spoonful of red sauce from another pot and pouring it over the noodles, before passing the plates back down the table. Jane and James dug right in, as if it was all they had ever hoped for, but Lara couldn't help but feel like it looked a bit like worms and blood. She pushed it around a bit with her fork, before steeling herself for the worst and sticking a big forkful into her mouth.

It was not nearly as disgusting as she had expected. Whatever Hannah Shepard had done to this 'spaghetti,' it was as if it had been dipped in the tears of angels.

"Goddess," she said, looking up at Hannah, "this is really good."

"Well thank you sweety," said Hannah, "Im glad you like it."

They all ate their food, Liara and James both eating three plates. They all talked about nothing in particular, just whatever came to mind, and when they had all finished, they took their plates and utensils into the kitchen and put them into the sink. Hannah waved them all away after they had finished, and though James offered to help her with the dishes, she insisted that they all go do their own thing.

The three climbed the stairs to Jane's room, where Liara had first met Jane, and sat around on whatever surface was available.


	4. Chapter 4

**Look out everyone, Its about to get a bit darker in here! But seriously, all things considered, Im very happy with this chapter. I feel like it adds a little more depth to Jane as a character, and helps to move the relationship with Jane and Liara along. Still not sure what Im gonna do with Janes dad, but Its probably going to come into the picture more.**

 **Anyways, I hope everyone likes this chapter, and please feel free to leave criticism. Im always trying to improve my writing.**

 _Can I come over? I need someone to talk to._

Liara stared at the message, trying to decide what it meant. It was a little late, and she had been getting ready to go to bed when the message had popped up on her omni tool. She had figured that it was an add or a reminder from her service provider to renew her contract. Instead, it was from Jane. It was so simple, and something about the time that it came and the way it was worded made Liara feel a little uncomfortable, like something was wrong with her friend.

 _You can come over. Is everything alright?_

Liara went back to brushing her teeth, but hardly got very far before she felt her Omnitool buzz again. She opened it, her toothbrush hanging from her mouth, and read Jane's message.

 _Yeah, sure, everythings fine._ There was a little frowny face emoji next to her response, and while Liara found it a little weird considering Jane's very vocal disgust for all things "teenagery," it still got the message across quite nicely.

Jane was at the door in a good 30 seconds, and when Liara opened the door, she came bursting in. Janes face was twisted up, in a look of frustration and sadness. She walked into the T'Soni living room, and began to pace. Liara, still holding her toothbrush, watcher her friend. It was strange to see her like this. Jane was always so happy, and for her to be in such a visibly unhappy mood was far from the norm.

Jane paced, and Liara watched from her place in the doorway. She had only known Jane for a month, but they had become fast friends. It made her feel bad to see Jane so upset, and she wanted to do something to help. Liara stepped forward, and placed her toothbrush and the mug of water she was holding on the coffee table, before reaching out and putting her hands on Jane's shoulders, steadying looked at each other, Liara quietly observing, Jane breathing heavy. She hadn't gotten a good look at Jane when she first entered, but she saw now that Jane''s eye was red and swelling, and she would probably have a black eye in the morning.

"Whats going on?" asked Liara, "what happened to your eye?"

Jane looked at Liara, as if she was deciding whether to answer or not. "Where's your mother?" she asked.

Liara stopped a second, and thought about the question. It seemed like Jane was stalling something. "She's out of town for the weekend. Why do you ask?"

"No reason, I just, I don't know. I was just curious." Jane twisted her shoulders from Liara's hands, and started pacing again. Liara stood a second, before chasing after Jane and putting her hands on her shoulders again.

"Jane, Jane, stop." she said, and looked at her friend. They had another pause, and Liara looked at Janes eye again. "Whats going on?"

Jane looked back at her, and her eyes changed. The angry exterior melted away, and she looked down at her feet. "He hit me," she said. Her voice was soft, almost a whisper.

"What?" said Liara, her crush on Jane making her feel even more angry, "who hit you?"

Jane didnt respond, just stared at her feet. Her hair was a mess, more so than usual, and her eyes were red rimmed. She was a mess, like she had been sleeping on a floor.

"Jane," she said, "who hit you?" Liara was lowering her head, so that she could try and look Jane in the eye, but she just kept shifting her head away. Her hair was hanging down in front of her face.

Jane took in a breath, "My dad." She said it almost as much to the floor as to Liara, as if she wanted to just disappear.

Liara stood a second. She wasn't aware that Janes father was a part of her life, and she took a moment to process it. As she did, Jane leaned forward, and Liara found herself hugging her. It would have been a dream accomplished for her to hug Jane Shepard, had it not come in such a strained moment. Liara just held Jane. She didn't make any noise, but Liara could tell that her friend was crying. They stood like that for a long while, just quietly, until Liara stood back and asked in a manner that she hoped was soothing, "do you want some tea?"

Jane stood back and nodded, wiping away tears. Liara turned and went to the kitchen, and Jane stood there in the T'Soni living room, looking at the paintings on the walls. She sat down on the couch, and stared at her hands.

Liara entered the kitchen and stood for a second, trying to organize everything she had just learned about Jane in her head. She had never factored Janes father into the picture. She just figured that it was Jane and her mother against the world. It seemed like they were doing pretty well for themselves anyways. But, it seemed like that wasn't the case all the time. She opened a cupboard, and took out a teapot before filling it with water from the sink. She wondered it it would be right to ask Jane what the situation was with her father, and why he had turned up so suddenly. She placed the teapot on stove. She let it sit for a while, before turning and rummaging through the cupboards again, trying to find the tea. She found three boxes, Green Leaf, Peppermint and a flavor from Thessia, Schudin Flower. She looked at the three, and put them on the counter before leaning over and opening the drawer that was under the oven, and pulling out a tray.

She put the three tea boxes on the tray, and then went to take two mugs, which she put on the tray as well. She waited, and watched the teapot until it started to whistle, when she took it off and put it on the tray. She picked it up, and carried it out to the living room again. Jane looked up at her, and quickly wiped at her eyes. It made Liara sad to see Jane acting like this. It was such a diversion from her usual happy go lucky self, and it seemed unnatural.

She sat down next to Jane, and poured the water into both mugs. "What would you like? I have Green Leaf, Peppermint and Schudin Flower." She said this quietly, like she was trying to sooth a young child who had scraped their knee. But instead, it was a girl who was almost an adult that she was soothing. Liara realised that they were both almost adults, and it made her feel strange.

"Green Leaf would be good," said Jane. Liara leaned forward, and took one of the packets out. She dipped it in the water until it became a golden brown, before picking it up and handing it to Jane, who took it in both hands and sipped it gingerly.

"Do you want me to get you some ice for your eye?" asked Liara.

"Sure," replied Jane. She smiled at Liara faintly.

Liara stood, and went back into the kitchen, and retrieved a plastic bag. She opened the freezer door, and took out an ice tray, before putting half of the cubes into the bag. From the top of the fridge she also took a dish towel, which she wrapped around the ice bag. Liara went back into the living room, to where Jane was sitting and sat down on the edge of the couch, turning the body so she could hold the ice to Janes eye. It was starting to look purple.

"You know," said Jane, "my birthday was supposed to be tomorrow. But I guess that isnt happening now."

"Its okay," said Liara, "you'll have plenty of other birthdays."

"I know," said Jane, "but its my eighteenth birthday. I would have like to celebrate becoming a legal adult."

Liara was silent, she just looked at Jane.

"I still have to do two more years in highschool though. I repeated seventh grade. Did I tell you that already?"

"I think you may have mentioned it," said Liara. In fact, it had been mentioned more than once. It seemed like the only thing Jane was insecure about was having to retake the seventh grade. Whenever the subject came up, Jane always made sure to explain how the only reason she retook the grade was because of her and her mother moving in the middle of the year.

Liara looked at Jane. She wondered if the happy face she was always wearing was real. It seemed like there were a lot more demons in Jane Shepard's life than she was aware of at first, and it seemed like Jane's happiness was just a facade. She hoped not. She hoped that she was really happy.

Liara took the ice away from Jane, and looked closely at her eye.

"I think thats going to be black in the morning," she said.

"I know," said Jane.

Liara put the ice in Janes hand, before lifting it up so that Jane was pressing it against her own eye.

"Do you want an early birthday present?" asked Liara.

Jane smiled. A sad smile, but a smile. "I would love that," she said.

Liara stood, and went to her room. A minute later, she came back down, her arms laden with a heavy cage. She brought it into the living room, and placed it on the coffee table before taking the top off, and lifting out a small, brown and white hamster.

"I got you Wilson." She said, handing the little animal over to Jane. "Also, the lady at the pet store said that Wilson is actually a girl."

Janes face had lit up. She still looked disheveled and nervous, but it was now mixed with the giddynes of a child. When Liara had gone to buy Wilson, the lady at the petstore had tried to stop her. It was only when Liara explained who she was buying wilson for that the woman relented. She told Liara that Jane had been coming into the store for a year and half to visit Wilson.

"Thank you so much Liara," said Jane. Wilson was in her hands, seemingly content with her situation as Jane lifted her to hold her little body to her chest. "Ive wanted this hamster for a long time now."

She looked at Liara. Before Liara could look away, Jane leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. It wasnt long, it wasnt wet, but it was loving.

Liara was taken aback, and didnt say anything for a few seconds. She meant to say something witty, or sweet, but instead all that came out was "what was that for?"

"I don't know," said Jane, "It just seemed right in the moment."


End file.
